ENBRIDGE PIPELINE MANEUVER IRKS GREENS: One Canadian company has found a way to ship more oil into the U.S. without waiting for a presidential permit, avoiding the kind of endless limbo that’s bedeviling the Keystone XL pipeline. Enbridge plans to use a complicated maneuver in which it would temporarily shift oil between two of its existing pipelines just north of the Canada-Minnesota border, both of which would then enter the U.S. That would allow the two pipelines combined to carry additional crude oil from Alberta’s oil sands, even though both will continue to meet the volume restrictions of their existing U.S. permits. Darren Goode has the story: http://politico.pro/VJyVmq

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UK UNVEILS ENERGY PAYMENT DISCLOSURE RULES: The United Kingdom on Thursday became the first European country to unveil proposed rules requiring large energy, mining and forestry companies to disclose payments made to foreign governments. The rules, part of a European Union-wide effort to boost transparency in the sector, parallel similar rules first required under Dodd-Frank — though the initial rule written by the SEC was vacated by a judge and sent back to the drawing board. “These changes will result in greater transparency, helping build a stronger economy and ensuring people around the world have the information they need to hold their governments to account,” Business Minister Jo Swinson said in a statement.

Details: The UK proposal would take effect starting Jan. 1, 2015, and companies would have 11 months after the end of the financial year to file reports detailing information about project-level payments totaling more than £86,000 (about $143,000), including payment amounts and types as well as how much of the money went to individual projects. And in a win for transparency advocates, the rules do not exempt nations that may prohibit such disclosures. The UK is likely aiming to finalize the rules by the end of this year. The UK’s proposed rules: http://bit.ly/1q34iTR. More docs: http://bit.ly/1g7lvDw

Reaction: Human rights groups said the UK rules could bolster the SEC’s new rulemaking on the topic. “There is now a global standard for this type of disclosure, paving the way for the SEC to follow suit, provide regulatory certainty, and finally finish Dodd-Frank Section 1504,” Oxfam America said in a statement. Simon Taylor, director of Global Witness, said: “The UK’s announcement highlights the need for other countries to introduce matching rules that will create a level playing field for industry.” Carlton Carroll, a spokesman for the American Petroleum Institute, which took the SEC’s first disclosure rule to court, told ME that API has not been involved in EU process and that it is focused on making sure the SEC’s new rule “both supports transparency and doesn’t harm the competitiveness of U.S. firms.” In its spring agenda, the SEC said it aims to release a new notice of proposed rulemaking sometime in March 2015.

PROGRAMMING NOTE: Morning Energy (and our sibling publication Afternoon Energy) won’t be publishing next week. We’ll be back in your inbox first thing on Sept. 2, and in the meantime we’ll keep Pros in the know with stories, whiteboards and other news.

LCV DROPS $400K ON AD ATTACKING LAND OVER KOCH CONNECTIONS: The League of Conservation Voters is spending $400,000 on a TV ad campaign linking Republican Michigan Senate candidate Terri Lynn Land to the Koch brothers — a charge levied already by others, including Democrat Gary Peters, who has spent campaign time attacking the Koch brothers. “It still looks like our Michigan, but the out-of-state billionaire Koch brothers use it as a dumping ground. Their plant, producing toxic chemicals linked to cancer. Their piles of waste contaminated homes and threatened the Great Lakes,” the ad says to grainy shots of smokestacks and piles of petcoke. “And their front groups, trying to buy a Senate seat for Terri Lynn Land, who opposes efforts to clamp down on industrial carbon pollution. Koch. Land. Not for Michigan.” The spot will air starting this week in the Grand Rapids market. Watch: http://youtu.be/82_tupiPl5c. Fact sheet: http://bit.ly/VJaOEl

NEXTGEN DROPS NEARLY $1 MILLION ON ANTI-BROWN CAMPAIGN: Tom Steyer’s NextGen super PAC is dropping nearly a million dollars on an ad campaign hitting Republican Scott Brown in his New Hampshire Senate campaign. NextGen Climate Action Committee said in an FEC disclosure last night that it is dropping $909,539 on TV and radio time and another $71,982 on digital advertising. The TV, radio and online ads cost $47,100.90 to produce, according to the filing. The spot, more conventional than past NextGen ads, aims to tie Brown to the Koch Brothers and attacks him as a carpetbagger. Watch the spot: http://youtu.be/HWKc4zTGvXo. NextGen also revealed it spent $3,440 on aerial advertising attacking Brown earlier this month.

** How does Chevron help the economy grow and provide affordable energy? By investing $21million dollars a day in new technologies and home grown energy projects that are fueling a resurgence of energy and manufacturing job growth for millions of citizens. Visit http://bit.ly/1pH96z4 for energy news. **

CHINESE SHALE GAS STUMBLES: The New York Times reports: “Faced with severe air pollution from coal and a rising dependence on energy imports, China has been eager to follow the United States by rapidly increasing natural gas output. … But China’s ability to extract sufficient natural gas is in serious doubt. Despite heavy investment and strong government support, China’s natural gas production is growing at a slower pace than its decelerating economy. … China’s main problem is that shale gas production has fallen far short of expectations. That has left the country relying on alternative methods considered also-rans by American standards, like pumping natural gas from coal fields.” NYT: http://nyti.ms/1kZpV8K

ENERGY INFLUENCE — THE CAUSE OF, AND SOLUTION TO, ALL OF LIFE’S PROBLEMS: In the latest edition of Energy Influence, our newsletter for Pro subscribers on campaign finance and lobbying in the energy world, Mary Landrieu has her best energy fundraising month since March, we look at the Colorado and Alaska Senate races, find out which 2018 candidates are already getting energy contributions, check out utility contributions to Nick Rahall and find out which oil and gas lobbyist has started her own firm. Pros can read it here: http://politico.pro/1lkmw4N

ANTI-KXL CONCERT SELLS OUT: A concert headlined by Neil Young and Willie Nelson and benefiting anti-Keystone XL groups sold out late last night after just 30 hours, according to organizers. Bold Nebraska's Jane Kleeb tells ME organizers sold all 7,000 tickets for the Sept. 27 event in Nebraska, although several VIP packages and sponsorships are available.

IS GHANA FACILITY SHIPPING STOLEN NIGERIAN CRUDE? The Wall Street Journal reports: “A small oil facility off the coast of Africa appears to be sending lots of crude to Europe, raising questions by Nigerian and U.S. authorities about whether some of it is pilfered Nigerian crude that they say is increasingly making it to global markets. … The platform's operator, which denies wrongdoing, and Nigerian officials say the facility has a legitimate contract with Nigerian authorities to transship oil that the country's law-enforcement officials have confiscated. But those volumes are small, according to the Nigerian government, raising questions about the origins of the rest of the oil the platform has loaded onto ships.” WSJ: http://on.wsj.com/1msiEtx

CHESAPEAKE NAMES NEW COMMS CHIEF: Chesapeake Energy has hired Brad Sylvester to be vice president for investor relations and communications. Sylvester comes from the Southwestern Energy Company, where he was worked since 1996.

MORNING MAP: The Center for Climate and Energy Solutions has a new interactive map tracking state-level progress on meeting energy efficiency goals under the EPA's climate rules: http://bit.ly/1kZq9fT

** How does Chevron help the economy grow and provide affordable energy? By investing $21million dollars a day in new technologies and home grown energy projects that are fueling a resurgence of energy and manufacturing job growth for millions of citizens. Visit http://bit.ly/1pH96z4 for energy news. **

** A message from Vet Voice Foundation: Tens of thousands of service members and veterans rely on public lands to hunt, fish, camp and heal from the wounds of war. These lands are part of the American heritage we fought for. As a new President and Congress look to rebuild America's infrastructure, we call on them to make an equal investment in maintaining our public lands and parks for our service members and all Americans. Support for our veterans must extend to investing in and protecting America’s natural heritage, for our children and grandchildren. www.VetVoiceFoundation.org **

Authors:

About The Author

Alex Guillén is an energy reporter for POLITICO Pro, where he covers EPA, regulations and coal, as well as lobbying and campaign finance in the energy realm. He previously wrote the Morning Energy newsletter. He graduated from the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va., with a degree in anthropology and English. He is an avid reader and TV binger. The Delawarean, thrilled that there are finally Capriotti’s outposts in Washington, lives in Alexandria, Va.